In this Sept. 14 file photo, road workers begin construction along California interstate 215 north in San Bernadino County. The White House said Friday that new job numbers will show the president's economic stimulus plan has directly created or saved about 650,000 jobs.
(Nick Ut/AP/File)Photos (1 of 1)
Stimulus saved or created 650,000 jobs, White House claims
But the jobs market remains weak despite the stimulus, and may remain so for some time, officials say.
By Peter Grier | Staff writer/ October 30, 2009 edition
Washington
First, the good news: The stimulus package passed by Congress in February so far has saved or created 650,000 jobs, according to the White House.
Now, the bad news: the employment market remains weak, say administration officials. That means that unemployment could remain near 10 percent deep into 2010, despite the effects of stimulus spending.
“Adding enough jobs to fill in the huge hole caused by unemployment will take time,” said Christina Romer, chair of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisors (CEA), at a Christian Science Monitor event Oct. 29.
The White House was in full promotional mode Friday pushing the jobs-saved-or-created figures. The administration was to post more information on the government’s recovery.gov website later in the day.
The administration has been pressured by critics to document progress towards Mr. Obama’s goal of saving or creating 3.5 million jobs by the end of 2010. The new data will be the most detailed look yet at how the stimulus package is affecting employment.
Teachers and other public employees are expected to be a major category of the new-or-saved job figures. Federal aid to states has helped avert thousands of layoffs that might otherwise have occurred.
Only about half the $787 billion in stimulus money has so far been obligated by the federal government, according to Ms. Romer.
Jobs linked to stimulus cash are great, but the economy as a whole, including the private sector, needs to grow if unemployment is to go down, said the CEA chief.
And 2 to 2.5 percent annual growth in gross domestic product (GDP), which most economic forecasters are predicting for the next year, may not be enough.
“Even 3 percent growth does not put a lot of downward pressure on the unemployment rate,” said Romer Thursday. GDP grew by 3.5 percent in the third quarter.
Until GDP starts going up at a 4 to 5 percent annual rate, unemployment might linger at high levels, she said.
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2. DON EAST | 10.30.09
IT SEEMS AS THO FDR’S “NEW DEAL” &LBJ”S “GREAT SOCIETY” HAVE ONLY GOTTEN REPACKED=RENAMED “STIMULUS” ONLY NOW WITH ALL IN WASHINGTON SPENDING LIKE DRUNK SAILORS WITH MY CREDIT CARD
D. I. EAST
3. Mr Pepper | 10.30.09
Would it have been preferable for the government to have done nothing? Surely not. The only way out of this hole is through growth. You have to kick-start growth, and then work out a way to sustain it. The ‘free market’ has shown its flaws, and government efforts (via stimulus and monetary easing) are the only means at governments disposal. Of course, another way if via conflict, to stir wars and boost the military industrial complex which will soak up vast amounts of material, both human and commodities.
Do it the clever way and stick with the stimulus package. Give the administration credit for something it did not cause, but inherited from a previous economically incompetent and lax administration. And don’t forget, the American electorate voted for that incompetent and his coterie of misfits.
4. dom youngross | 10.30.09
Interesting twist here that could slip by unnoticed, like a new wrinkle on a Shar Pei. The White House is backpedaling away from indefensibly claiming that the stimulus package creates x number of jobs. Now they claim the stimulus package ’saves’ OR ‘creates’ jobs. How about that. Could have sworn the whole purpose of the stimulus package as stated earlier this year was to CREATE new jobs. So now we all know better. The stimulus package was undertaken to ’save’ OR ‘create’ jobs.
So three questions:
1) How much on average did it cost in terms of new federal debt to save or create one of those 650,000 jobs? If Obama, Orszag, and Romer can count the number of jobs saved or created by the stimulus package, bright people they are they should be able to work backwards to figure that out.
2) How long will it take for those 650,000 saved or created jobs to yield enough federal income tax revenues to pay for the new federal debt incurred to save or create those jobs in the first place?
3) What’s the capital of North Dakota? That question has nothing to do with anything. I just wanted to give Obama, Orszag, and Romer a question they might be able to answer truthfully.
Okay, okay, a fourth question for the heck of it:
4) Of those 650,000 jobs, how many were ’saved’ and how many were ‘created’? Corollary to question four: 4a) Were any of those 650,000 jobs both saved AND created at the same time? Seems that if one job was both ’saved’ AND ‘created’, a possibility in hyperdimensional Obamathought, under the subsequent rules of non-linear Obamamath two jobs were ’saved’ OR ‘created’. The same job could have been entered into the ’saved’ column AND the ‘created” column, and the two columns added together to ultimately arrive at the 650K figure.
And for curiosity’s sake, a fifth and final question:
5) Did all those 650,000 ’saved’ or ‘created’ jobs occur in this space-time continuum, or did Obama, Orszag, and Romer cheat by claiming some from a parallel universe?
You know what? Joe Wilson was right. Obama is a [STINKING] liar.
5. Robert | 10.31.09
To Mr Pepper: You’re out of your mind. There was nothing clever about the stimulus because it’s a HUGE waste of money. I do believe there were and are things the govt could have done to stimulate the economy, but not the way it was done. And the fact that Obama has waged a war on Capitalism will hurt us for many years unless he does a 180 and starts to welcome capital from around the world. As of now, any family that makes more than $250k will get hammered, but these are the people who have businesses and create jobs. Why would a capitalist somewhere in this world want to invest his/her money in the US when Obama has promised he will make them pay dearly? Obama is a fool and we (mostly the middle class) will suffer. The best thing we can do now is fight and kick Obama and the Dems out of office.
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1. DON EAST | 10.30.09
IT SEEMS AS THO FDR’S “NEW DEAL” &LBJ”S “GREAT SOCIETY” HAVE ONLY GOTTEN REPACKED=RENAMED “STIMULUS” ONLY NOW WITH ALL IN WASHINGTON SPENDING LIKE DRUNK SAILORS WITH MY CREDIT CARD
D. I. EAST